Belt buckle



May 31,1927.

- F. R. MATTESON BELT BUCKLE Filed Jan. 20, 1925 w w m g Patented May31, 1927.

PATENT orrics.

FREDERICK RAY MATTESON, OF TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB T0 FRANK VPACKARD DAUGHADAY, OF

CHARTLEY, MASSACHUSETTS.

1mm? BUCKLE,

Application filed January This invention relates to belt buckles, and

more particularly to the so-called lever type of belt buckle in which abelt-gripping lever is fulcrumed in the frame or body member of thebuckle so as to pinch the interposed free end of a belt against thefront plate, thereby holding it firmly in its various positions ofadjustment.

This type of buckle, while quite eflicient when applied to a belt orstrap of just the proper thickness for the lever adjustment, has giventrouble by reason of the fact that in commercial belts quiteconsiderable variations in thickness of the lever or strap isexperienced, with the consequence that a lever buckle that is adapted toa comparatively thin belt does not function properly and satisfactorilywhen applied'to a comparatively thick belt, and vice versa.

The present invention overcomes this difficulty by providing a variablefulcral point for support of the gripping lever, and in general itcomprises, in combination with a flanged body member, a gripping levermounted to have fulcral support against inturned lips or ledgesprojecting from the re spective edges of the body flanges and havingguiding centers for positioning the lever, arranged to shift todifferent distances from the front plate when the lever is adjusted togrip belts of different thickness.

A further feature of this invention, in connection with the lever havingthe variable fulcral or bearing points, consists in theproperassociation of a belt-attaching bail or member which allows thebuckle body to take a proper set or adjustment in relation to theanchored end of the beltwhenapplied to different thicknesses of straps.

These andother features of the invention will be particularly describedin the following specification and will be defined in the claims heretoannexed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a central section on an enlarged scale through the beltbody, showing the lever in side elevation.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan iew of the same with one of the inwardlyturned lips broken away to show the thrust-receiving portion of thelever.

20, 1926. Serial No. 82,487.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross section on the plane indicated by brokenline :0, Figure 1.

Figure l is a diagrammatic view illust-rating the shifting bearing orthrust engagement of the lever.

Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of the buckle body showing a modifiedform of the lever in side elevation.

Figure 6 is a vertical cross section on the plane 2 of Figure 5.

In the practice of this invention, according to the illustration of thedrawings, I provide a body member comprising a front or body plate 1,having rearwardly projecting side flanges 2', whose rear edgesareinwardly turned to provide inwardly projecting lips forming supportingledges for the lever, as well as guides for the inserted belt.

The side flanges, intermediate of their ends, are provided with smallvertical slots l, properly positioned to permit the lever to move bodilynearer to or farther from the front plate, and forming guides forposition ing the lever and retaining it at all times in the buckle body.

The lever, in the form illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, comprises a strongmetal plate 5, whose inner end edge is bent at an angle to the mainportion to form a gripping arm 6, projecting toward the front plate inorder to pinch or grip the interposed free end of the belt 0.

Instead of fulcruming this lever in the ordinary bearings formed in theside flanges, as heretofore, the end portions, instead of following theline of the main arm 5 and the short gripping arm 6, are partly severedfrom these portions and bent or carried toward the rear to form furcraltongues or projections 7 which, in the belt-gripping position of thelever, engage and bear against the adjacent portion of the lips 3 which,therefore, form supporting ledges to receive the thrust portion of thelever when the lever is forced into position to grippingly pinch theinterposed belt against the front plate.

Preferably these fulcral tongues or portions of the lever are formedwith their gripping portions to have a cam-like action so that, havingreference to Figure 1, as the lever is turned or swung in acounter-clockwise direction to accommodate a thicker belt, the distancebetween the bearing points engaging the ledges 3 and the gripping edge 6of the buckle becomes shorter, thereby allowing the lever to move bodilynearer to the supporting ledges and farther from the front plate of thebody.

l/Vhen disposed in. position to grip the thinnest end of the belt thelever, from its gripping edge or arm 6, to the bearing point on heel oftongue 7, is only slightly inclined from perpendicular relation to thefront plate, just enough in fact to prevent any possibility of thegripping arm from passing by what might be termed the dead center.Obviously, the greater the obliquity of the lever to the plane of thefront plate the greater will be the distance between the gripping edgeof arm 6 and the front plate. If, however, we were to depend merely uponthe change in the angular relationship of the lever to the front plateto acco1nmodate a thicker strap, the outer or anchoring end of the leverwould, in the case of a very thick strap, project too far to therearward of the buckle to give it a good set on the person. If, however,the lever, as a whole, is allowed to recede bodily from the front plateat the same time that its obliquity to the front plate increases, itwill not be necessary to swing or turn the lever through as large an arcof movement as would be necessary if the lever was mounted to turn abouta fixed fulcral point in the side flanges.

This recession of the lever bodily from the front plate, as it isapparently opened to receive a thicker belt, is effected by giving theface of the thrust-receiving tongues 7, immediately adjacent to the heelthereof, a direction that causes that face to recede sharply from thesupporting ledge 3 so that the point of thrust Or fulcral bearingadvances along the fulcral tongues nearer to the gripping edge 6, as thelever is turned toward open position, thereby giving a cam like actionwhich actually shortens the effec-' tive length of the lever by reasonof the shifting of the bearing point or thrust point nearer to thegipping edge of the arm 6, as illustrated in Figure 4.

lVith this construction of lever fulcrumed against the inside surface ofthe supporting lips or ledges 3, means must be provided for retaining orpositioning the lever in the belt body. This is effected by forming thepartly severed side edge portions of the lever into eyes or hooks 8 forthe reception of a transverse guide pin 9, which passes through saideyes and out through the slotted apertures or openings 4 in the sideflanges 2. These slots have their long axes extending transversely tothe front plate so as to allow the guide pin to play up and down in theside flanges to enable 1,631,10&

the lever to tightly grip either a thin or a thick belt. As. previouslyexplained, the wire rod or guide pin 9 will be inserted through theseslots and through the eyes 8 after the lever has been inserted in thebuckle body proper, and the ends of the wire may be headed down in theusual manner to keep it from displacement.

At its outer end the arm is formed with loops or eyes 11 to receive apivotal bail loop 12, through which is looped the anchored end of thebelt 0.

In the form shown in Figures 5 and 6 the gripping lever is not providedwith any angular belt-attaching extension, like that shown at 5 inFigure l, butcomprises a plate 20 arranged to bridge across the.

space between the inserted belt 0 and the supporting ledges 3 of thebody. At its upper end this plate 20 forms a gripping edge for engagingthe belt, while its lower or rearward end, when applied to the body, iscurled at its side edge portions to form eyes 21 whose exterior surfacehas a cam-like engagement with the adjacent por tions of the ledges 3and whose interior openings are adapted to receive a connecting pin 24around whose middle portion is curled an elongated eye 26, of the loopor bail 27, which receives the anchored end of the belt.

Since the connecting pin 24 is located on that portion .of the level 20adjacent to the thrust-supporting 0r fulcral ledges 3 of the body, andthe trunnion members 22, which have play in the slots 4, are nearer tothe gripping edge 25 of the lever, any pull outwardly on the bail 27 bythe anchored end of the strap acts to wedge the lever firmly between theinserted belt end of the fulcral ledges. As in the form illustrated inFigure 1, the more the lever is inclined to the front plate the more thefulcral or thrust point advances around the exterior surface of thefuloral or thrust-sustaining tongues or members 21, thus allowing thelever to recede bodily away from the front plate at the same time itsgripping edge swings away from it, owing to its pivotal movement.

In this form of the buckle it will be seen that as the bail takes theplace of the angle arm 5, in the other form, and'is loosely or pivotallyconnected with the lever, a wider range of adjustment is permittedwithout producing any. rojection of the lever beyond the back of thebuckle body. In both forms, however, the cam-like shape of thethrust-supporting portions of the lever in effect result in shorteningthe effective length of the lever with each increase of obliquity inrelation to the front plate.

The diagrammatic View in Figure 4 illustrates the manner in which thefloating movement of the lever,,as its grippingedge is turned away fromthe front plate, serves to largely increasethe space or gap between thebelt-gripping points of the lever and. the fulcral points of support orthrust against the supporting ledges of the buckle bod Lit us supposethat the belt lever is disposed, as shown in Figure 1, to grip a thinbelt against the front plate. In that case the effective axial length ofthe lever will be indicated by a straight line connecting the arrowpoint 3O with the belt-gripping point 30, the lines s and 3' indicatingthe planes, respectively, of the belt and of the fulcral ledges. Toavoid confusion of lines we have assumed, in this'diagram, that thebuckle is swung about the lever instead of the lever being swung inrelation to the buckle body; hence, the parallel lines If, t indicatethe planes of the belt-contacting point 31 and of the fulcral point 31*.The line 8 is drawn at the same distance from the line If that separatesthe lines 8, and s so that the space between the lines t and 8represents the actual increase in the gap between the ledges and thebelt-gripping point of the lever when the lever is turned through theangles 8, 31, t. It will, therefore, be seen that there is a substantialshortening of the lever represented by the difference in the axialdistances 31, 31 and from 30 to 30 the remainder of the distance'beingdue to the fore-shortening of the lever due to its increased obliquity.

Obviously, no such increase in the gap would be effected if the lever,instead of being a floating lever by reason of its pin and slotconnection with the buckle body, were pivoted to swing about a fixedfulcrum. Therefore, by reason of this construction a very small changein angular adjustment will take care of a very substantial variation inthe thickness of the strap.

It will also be understood that the bearing ledges relieve the bearingopenings and the positioning pin from the heavy thrust exerted by thepull of the belt upon the lever, thus largely eliminating wear while theslotted connection allows the lever 'to recede a considerable distancefrom the front plate to leave a very wide space for the insertion of thefree end of the belt when the lever is swung back to open position.

lVhat I claim is:

1. In a belt buckle, the combination with a body member embracing afront plate and side flanges having inwardly turned lips, abelt-gripping lever interposed between the front plate and said lips andhaving rolling fulcral support on said lips to support the rearwardthrust of the lever as it is forced into gripping position to pinch thefree end of the belt against the back of the front plate, a leverguiding and positioning means forming a loose connecto form supportingledges to receive the.

thrust of a belt-gripping member, said flanges being provided withslotsto receive the ends of a positioning pin, a gripping lever mountedon said pin to permit its gripping edge to pinch the adjustable end ofan interposed belt against the front plate while its opposite edgeortion bears against the inturned lips, andlielt-attaehing means forconnecting the anchored end of the belt with the gripping lever.

3. In a belt buckle the combination with a body member embracing aflanged front plate having inturned lips adapted to form fulcralsupports for a lever, a belt-gripping lever having floating pivot-a1connection, with the body flanges and having a fulcral portion arrangedto bear against said lips for support and having a belt-grippin por tionarranged to pinch the inserte free end of a belt against the frontplate, said lever being also connected to the anchored end of theinserted belt.

4. In a belt buckle the combination of a body member having rearwardlydisposed inwardly turned lips forming fulcral ledges supporting thethrust of a belt-gripping member, a lever having connection with theanchored end of a belt and having floating connection with the bodymember, said lever being formed at its sides with cam-like portionsproviding shifting points of contact with the fulcral ledges, as the camportions roll upon said ledges, to shorten the eifective length of thegripping lever to increase the gap between the belt-gripping portion ofthe lever and the front late as the lever is turned away from the rontplate to accommodate a thicker belt.

5. In a belt buckle the combination with a body member having rearwardlydisposed ledges, of a belt-gripping lever loosely mounted in the bucklebody by a pin and slot guiding connection, said lever having abelt-gripping edge on one side of the pin and slot connection to pinchthe free end of a belt against the front portion of the body and havingon the opposite side there of fulcral bearing portions adapted to bearagainst and roll upon said ledges, and a belt-attaching bail pivotallyconnected with said lever adjacent to said bearing portions in order toconnect the anchored end of the belt to the lever.

6. In a belt buckle the combination with a body member, of abelt-gripping lever mounted therein by a pin and slot connection topinchthe free end of a belt against the body, said lever havingcamportions :adapted to have rolling bearing contact with abelt-attaching bail forming means for connecting the anchored end of thebelt with the lever.

7 In a belt'buckle the combination with a body member having slottedside flanges ver also having cam-like bearing members adapted to form arolling bearing contact with said lips, and a belt-attaching bailpivotally connected Wlth'SiLlCl lever.

In Witness whereof, I have subscribed the above specification.

FRED RAY MATTESON;

